Cheap-ish Garage Build Nov-Dec 2019

[Sean Danekind]

Hey all - New member here.

My local Golf Club has an indoor winter league in a really slick FullSwing simulator ... BUT that gets really busy, and they only have 1.

So I'm building my own practice sim at home... I'm taking 1 bay of my garage to build a SkyTrack Simulator. Much of it is already delivered or on order.

Max Area = 11ft wide x 17 ft long x Ceiling varies, but will be 9 ft in the swing area.

Launch Monitor	Skytrack + Metal Case - $300 Holiday Discount	Amazon
Projector	Optoma GT1080 Darbee (2018 model)	Amazon
PC	Asus Laptop with a good enough Graphics card	Already Own
Screen	Carl's 7.7'x10' Preferred Golf Impact + Black Vinyl & Grommets	Amazon
Netting	Net & Bungees	Amazon
Frame	DIY with some spare wood	Already Own
Software	Game Improvement + TGC 2019	SkyTrackGolf.com (not ordered yet)
Golf Mat	CC Elite 5'x5'	Costco (on order)
Flooring	(3) TrafficMaster 3.75' x 9' Grass Turf	1/2 off at Local Auction Site
Discount		-$450 in Amazon Points

I'll pickup TGC2019 after I get it all built.

All in, I'm looking at about $4,300, which includes using up my Amazon points and the SkyTrack's holiday discount.

Costco had the Best price I've found on the CC Elite. I hope it's not a cheaper version of the real thing. We'll see. I opted for the 5x5 so I can rotate it if the hitting area starts to wear.

The TrafficMaster deal was blind luck since the local auction site just happened to have 3 of them last week. I'm not expecting to putt on it or anything, but I'm hoping it will make my sim look a little better than bare concrete and stop the balls from rolling around.

I debated getting a 16:9 screen, but it was just too long for the width of my space. So I'll sacrifice a bit of resolution, but it should still be 1440x1080. Just curious how pixelated that will look on such a huge screen. I have a 100" diagonal home theater screen

I should have some pics next week when I start the actual build.

[mikemcd22]

Sounds awesome. Looking forward to the build. Good luck!

[bongta029]

My current build is very similar to yours. my room is 15'x22'x9'. I have 4k projector Optoma Uhd 51alv and Carl's Premium screen(custom size 13'x8.5) so I can use the sim room as a home theatre. I have fiberbuilt hitting matt 1'x3' and putting green (15'x22') as a stance matt. I heard CCE mat can ruin your elbow, so I went with fiberbuilt. 16:9 looks good but I do have empty space 1' on top and bottom of the screen. Taller screen will keep your high lofted wedge shots inside of the cage.

[Tom Hawkin]

I have a very similar setup as well. My build came to just under $4k. I actually have a DIY guide that I am just finishing...it may help as you put yours together. DM if you want a copy (too much to share in a post)!

[Sean Danekind]

Very cool. Thank you guys for sharing!

I just got all the stuff and quickly hung the screen and hooked up the skytrack + laptop + projector to check that everything works. ...and it does. If you can see my attached image, it's obvious that some alignment is needed.

I have along way to go, but all the pieces are there. Sunday will bring a trip to the hardware store for parts to build the frame and a proper (and aligned) mounting for the screen, a ceiling mounted projector, and netting on the sides, better routing for the power cables, etc...

I ended up setting the projector to 4:3 and the laptop is sending it a 16:9 image. Letters and shapes appear slightly compressed horizontally. The closest resolution my laptop does is 1440x1050, so I'll experiment a bit.

Biggest issue is a very poor internet connection in the garage, even with a wifi extender... but I can tackle that after I get everything physically built. Worst case is needing to run an actual network cable.

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Bongta029 -

Sounds like a nice setup. I went with 1080 instead of 4K because my left eye has an injury that gives me double vision anyway. I actually considered some XGA short throw projectors, but opted for the 1080p simply because I still have one good eye!!!

I've heard similar about CC Elite, but I tend to barely dig on anything except intentional sand/pitching wedge shots, and very occasional chunking, so I'm hoping it's OK for me. If it ends up being an issue, I'll likely copy you and get the same Fiberbuilt section that you have and use my CCE to stand on. CC Elite is also really close to the flooring in my club's Sim Room, so it may help me in my indoor winter league. We'll see - that starts this coming week.

I bet 16:9 looks great. As you can see in my photo, 4:3 basically fills my space, so I'm happy with that. Any wider and the steps into the house (far right) would really cut off the image. I thought about taller, and you're likely correct about wedges... but it's just my garage, so I'll put some painted plywood up if I hit the ceiling too often.

Check your projector... Mine has a setting that accounts for masking material. Vertical & horizontal were separate. Since yours is also an Optoma, you may be able to eliminate the gap, or compress it Horizontally and pull it back a few inches to fill the screen.

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Tom Hawkin -

I'll DM you. I'm always open to advice from someone who's done it before me.